ZTE Open with Firefox OS v1.1 Having Trouble with USSD

My iPhone is still in service center for about 2 weeks now and a MozRep Indonesia is kind enough to lend me Firefox OS phone. Used to all the fancy things iPhone had so far now I have to use a device that doesnt has all that luxury.
It’s a so-so device -compare to my iPhone- (well, the target market is not for people like me), I dont have many comment about it. But this young O/S is fun to play with, specially making mobile app using only HTML5/CSS/JavaScript in the client side.

The only problem, serious problem that I have is the ability to make a USSD call.
USSD is a protocol used by GSM cellular telephones to communicate with the service provider’s servers. USSD can be used for WAP browsing, prepaid callback service, mobile-money services, location-based content services, menu-based information services, and as part of configuring the phone on the network (wikipedia).

For example:
Dial *888# to check your prepaid balance
Dial *266# if you want to activate your roaming package offers.
and many things.

The ZTE Open I’m using now unfortunately having problem with USSD operation.

The symptom is whenever you dial a USSD Code (let say *888#) via dialler,
the app only show you “connecting” status for a while
and after that, dialer app is like closing the connection and back to dial pad screen

open dialer app can make USSD call *888# to my operator to check the prepaid balance
open dialer app can make USSD call *888# to my operator to check the prepaid balance
Call is being made. B number not shown for a while
Call is being made. B number not shown for a while
B number finally shown. But after few seconds, the call will be closed and screen back to the dial pad
B number finally shown. But after few seconds, the call will be closed and screen back to the dial pad

When you’re accessing the STK menu (which is more or less is executing USSD command)
You can get the first menu screen. But when you continue selecting any option from the menu, there’s nothing happen.

USSD Success
It supposed to be displaying this kind of information if the USSD is success

Operator in Indonesia use USSD for most of their services because of the easy to use menu and realtime communication with the backend. That’s why it’s a serious problem for Firefox OS/ZTE Open if this issue still occur.

So, is anybody out there using ZTE Open with Firefox OS v1.1?
Do you have the same problem as I do? I’ve posted a bug at bugzilla, but has no response yet.

Ponsel FirefoxOS akan bisa dibeli online lho

mozilla_fb_social_avatar_150Ponsel dengan sistem operasi FirefoxOS mulai dipasarkan global. Paling tidak sudah di 2 benua :)

Setelah Sebulan sebelumnya dipasarkan di Spanyol (Polandia akan segera menyusul), ponsel FirefoxOS hadir di Amerika Selatan. Tanggal 1 Agustus kemarin Telefonica mengumumkan bahwa Alcatel One Touch Fire dan ZTE Open akan dijual di Kolombia dan Venezuela. Keduanya dapat dibeli di toko-toko Movistar. Sedangkan untuk pasar Brazil, One Touch Fire dan ZTE Open akan dipasarkan sekitar Q4 2013 nanti.

Bagaimana dengan Indonesia?

Nah ini agak rumit untuk dijawab karena operator di Indonesia tidak menjual bundle antara ponsel dengan paket langganan selulernya. Berbeda dengan di luar negeri khususnya di Eropa ataupun benua Amerika yang ponselnyapun dipasangin logo operatornya.

So either operator launch a special package with FirefoxOS Bundled, dalam hal ini operator kombo dengan ZTE atau Alcatel (mungkin plus distributor lokalnya) atau si pabrikan ponsel (ZTE, Alcatel) yang jual langsung ke pasar Indonesia. ZTE yang saya tahu ga jualan retail, jadi mesti digandeng operator. Alcatel? Terakhir ingat nama Alcatel kayanya nun jauh di awal 2000an waktu masih belum ada 3G :)

mozilla-alcatel-onetouchfire

Nah ternyata ZTE mengambil opsi jual langsung ke publik. Tanggal 12 Agustus kemarin ZTE mengumumkan kalo ponsel ZTE Open akan bisa dibeli online lewat store mereka di eBay US dan UK. Warna yang akan tersedia pertama kali adalah oranye seperti gambar di bawah ini dan harganya sekitar USD 79.99 (GBP 59.99). Kalo dirupiahkan pake kurs versi Google hari ini sekitar 823,257.08 rupiah.

mozilla-zteopenbanner

Satu lagi, ponselnya akan dijual unlock. Bisa dipake di jaringan operator GSM manapun. Wooooo, ini bisa dibilang terobosan.

Mengutip pernyataan Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst di biro konsultasi Ovum, langkah ZTE untuk menjual ponselnya di eBay ini menunjukkan bahwa kebanyakan operator di dunia ini belum siap untuk menjual FirefoxOS. Dawson menambahkan kalo sekedar ‘being different’ itu ga cukup ditengah pasar smartphone yang sudah dijejali oleh Android kemudian Apple dan Windows.

Ini juga PR lumayan besar buat Mozilla sendiri dalam memasarkan FirefoxOS. Karena ya itu tadi, being different isn’t enough. Dan ngeyel ngejelasin ke orang kalau pake FirefoxOS akan memberikan pengalaman, user experience yang lebih baik itu ga akan terlalu menjual.

Nah kalau kalian mo order bisa langsung ke tokonya saja (saya ga tau yah soal shippingnya he he he).

Kayanya sih dah mulai bisa pre-order Jumat ini.

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